Read/Write ME2.7 ECU whilst still in car?
 

Hi All

I have been having a poke around with my 2.7L 2000 model Boxter ECU today using my Galletto. It can detect the ECU ok but it comes up with a garbled Italian translated message when I try to read it that says 'Put Pin 24 Flash EPROM to MASS' etc. I have read another post on the forum explaining how to do this on a bench but I was wondering if any one has done with the ECU still in the vehicle. I dont have a bench rig so powering it isnt going to be easy and my soldering skills arent that good so I'm a bit twitchy about doing it on the bench.

I'm sort of figuring that shorting the correct pin to ground through a resistor then turning on the ignition will have the right effect but it would help of someone could verify this.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

Ian

Oh and before any wise a**es post 'take it to a shop' I dont want to I want to do it myself for the journey wherever that may take me (hopefully that will save you the effort of typing unhelpful comments)

Can't help much, but are you using this model:

Galletto 1260 ECU Remap chip Flasher EOBD2 OBDII OBD2 | eBay

I'm using something similar but that looks like a pretty nasty copy. i bought this one a few years ago and paid considerably mroe than that for it lol. the originals and the copies are all the same hardware from what I understand.

Can you point me to the bench post? I'll see if I can help you.


B

http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/31346-me5-2-2-bench-flash-pinouts-also-me7-2-required.html

http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/31377-me7-2-boot-mode.html

Hi,

I'm the guy who has been playing with reading and writing both the ME5.2.2 and the ME7.2 and whilst I would assume that there must be a way to read and write both whilst in the car (Softronic seem to be able to do it.), I have not been able to locate any information on the Internet as to how to do this via the OBD socket. The tuning world is a very secretive one and these guys don't give any information away for free as it would harm their own earning potential. ;-)

The only way 'I' know how to read the ME7.2 is to put it into "Boot Mode" first and the only way that 'I' know how to put an ME7.2 into Boot mode is to touch the location on the motherboard of the ME7.2 ECU to ground, whilst powering up the ECU. This requires no soldering at all and you could do it in the car by doing the following:

1) Remove the ECU (located in the rear boot/trunk.)
2) Open the ECU.
3) Use a CD/permanent marker to highlight the small strip on the ECU motherboard, which would need to be grounded, to place the ECU into boot mode.
4) Connect the ECU back in the car, still open (Probably best to use one of the nuts to hold it firmly in place in it's original location.
5) Connect a battery charger to your battery. It is always advisable to have the battery on charge whilst flashing an ECU in a car and it is good practice to do this whilst reading also.
6) Take a length of thin wire (Thin enough to be able to touch the correct strip on the ECU motherboard without touching any other metal.) and connect one end to an earth point on your car.
7) You will need a willing helper for the next bit:
7a) Connect the Galletto and get it far enough so that the software tells you that you need to ground pin 24 (The Galletto instructions for both the Porsche ME5.2.2 and the Porsche ME7.2 are just plain wrong!.)
7b) Your accomplice will need to be in charce of the power supply, a.k.a. key in the ignition, whilst you touch your improvised ground lead to the strip on the ECU, which you have highlighted with marker pen... Hold it for a few seconds, after your accomplice has turned on power to the ECU, by turning the ignition far enough to light the instrument cluster but NOT start the car (I seem to remember that 5 worked fine for me) and then release it.
7c) Click OK on the Galletto and it should start to read a dump of your ECU. If it doesn't then just repeat these steps, but perhaps leaving the pin grounded a little longer.
8) Once you have grabbed an image of your ECU, you can put the top back on and bolt it firmly back in place.... You will never have to do this action again on this vehicle! ;-)

The ME7.2 ECU can be written in the car, without having to do anything special, like connecting a pin to ground or standing on your right leg and chanting Porsche equipment codes backwards, but PLEASE make sure a battery charger is connected when you do this. ;-)

This is exactly opposite of what you find with the old ME5.2.2 which is in the 2.5 Boxster, by the way, as you can read it's contents easily but need to apply +12v to pin 60 (Not Pin 66 as stated by the Galletto software) when you want to flash it.

I use a company in England to modify the fuel and ignition maps in the file which I email them and their charge is 80 pounds sterling, which is currently around $125. NAYYY

If you want to know more about them, pleas PM me.

Wow, thanks for the comprehensive reply. That's pretty much what I figured I needed to do but having a step by step walk through is great. I'm in the Uk so will pm you re the map supplier. First class post for anyone who wants to do it in future!

Cheers

absolutely perfect. worked a treat. I now have the file and can put my remap back in. I guess this should work for all ME7.2 ECU's

oustanding, thanks alot for sharing your hard earned knowledge!

Glad to hear that it all worked for you Nobby8 :-)